ARGENTINA: An Argentine museum displays a unique prehistoric sea reptile native to the Patagonia region some 80 million years ago

Record ID: 447455

  • Title: ARGENTINA: An Argentine museum displays a unique prehistoric sea reptile native to the Patagonia region some 80 million years ago
  • Date: 1st July 2013
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JULY 01, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE EXTERIOR OF THE BERNARDINO RIVADAVIA NATURAL SCIENCES MUSEUM VARIOUS OF A REPLICA OF THE "TUARANGISAURUS CABAZAI " ON DISPLAY IN THE MUSEUM VARIOUS OF PALAEONTOLOGIST, FERNANDO NOVAS, LOOKING AT THE REPLICA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PALAEONTOLOGIST, FERNANDO NOVAS, SAYING: "Tuarangisaurus was a 3-metre-long animal similar in its general appearance, perhaps in its ecological role, to modern day sea lions on the coasts of the Patagonia. They are not at all closely related, just in the sense of the ecological role they filled. They ate fish, and the Plesiosaurs most certainly did this too, especially the Tuarangisaurus. It was an animal with a flattened, wide body and it could have weighed some 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) and was part of the prehistoric sea fauna from our country from millions of years ago." VARIOUS OF ITS PADDLES AND FINS THE HEAD THE TAIL VISITORS TAKING PICTURES OF THE REPLICA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PALAEONTOLOGIST, FERNANDO NOVAS, SAYING: "What we did was to gather the skeletal pieces of the Tuarangisaurus we had, which were discovered by Hector Cabaza. We did reconstructions of the missing pieces and then a replica of this. A replica made of polyurethane foam which is a very light material which is very accurate when copying the surface of bones. And with this we were able to display the skeleton of this creature. It is the first time that we've had it here, in the Argentine Natural Sciences Museum." VARIOUS OF THE MUSEUM DISPLAY
  • Embargoed: 16th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: History,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA8HIHH544DF2VBSRXGX45JWZ6O
  • Story Text: A natural sciences museum in Buenos Aires unveiled a replica of a one-of-a-kind prehistoric reptile that millions of years ago hunted the seas of the Patagonia region.
    Fossils of the unique specimen were originally discovered in the Patagonia province of Rio Negro in southwest Argentina in 2000 by the director of the Natural Sciences Museum in Lamarque, Rio Negro, Hector Cabaza.
    Experts classified the three-metre-long (nearly 10-foot) beast a Plesiosaurs, part of a group of marine reptiles from the Triassic Period which were common during the Jurassic Period and finally went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.
    Palaeontologist Fernand Novas directed the team that created the reconstruction of the animal for display here.

    "Tuarangisaurus was a 3-metre-long animal similar in its general appearance, perhaps in its ecological roll, to modern day sea lions on the coasts of the Patagonia. They are not at all closely related, just in the sense of the ecological roll they filled. They eat fish, and the Plesiosaurs most certainly did this too, especially the Tuarangisaurus. It was an animal with a flattened, wide body and it could have weighed some 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) and was part of the prehistoric sea fauna from our country from millions of years ago," Novas said.
    The reptile was named after its discoverer and is known as the Tuarangisaurus cabazai.
    The massive creature was reconstructed by experts and features a long neck and razor sharp teeth used to hunt the fish it preyed on.
    The Tuarangisaurus cabazai, like other Plesiosaurs, were different from other water-dwelling reptiles in that its four limbs were converted from legs and feet into large flipper-like appendages that helped them glide through the waters they inhabited.

    "What we did was to gather the skeletal pieces of the Tuarangisaurus we had, which were discovered by Hector Cabaza. We did reconstructions of the missing pieces and then a replica of this. A replica made of polyurethane foam which is a very light material that is very accurate when copying the surface of bones. And with this we were able to display the skeleton of this creature. It is the first time that we've had it here, in the Argentine Natural Sciences Museum."
    The prehistoric skeleton can be viewed by the public at The Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia) in Buenos Aires in a new installation called the "Monsters of Argentina's Prehistoric Seas" which recreates the waters of the Patagonia as they are believed to have been some 150 million years ago.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register